Caught in the Middle  Shapter 4
by Sunarlily
Summary: First dates are always excrutiatingly awkward...aren't they?


Chapter 4

_8:13.  
8:14.  
8:17.  
I think I'm losing my mind._  
Zac couldn't stop his leg from bouncing up and down as he stared at the clock on his cell phone. Janelle was supposed to arrive at any minute, and he couldn't think of anything except her eyes. Those deep, beautiful green eyes.  
"How's it going, dude?" Corbin said, plopping down next her. "Nervous?"  
Zac shrugged. "Nah, not really," he replied. _Liar._  
Corbin snorted. "Yeah…right. Carol told me how you could barely form complete sentences when you met this chick."  
"What chick?" Ashley asked as she and Vanessa joined them.  
"Who else have we been talking about for days?" Vanessa said, and then took a bite of a blueberry muffin. "So what, you're gonna show her around the set and then you guys go off on your wild and crazy adventure?" she asked after swallowing.

"Yeah," Zac answered. "I don't know what we're doing afterwards." _8:22._  
"Hey guys." Lucas walked over, dropped his backpack, and grabbed a donut from the buffet table on the way over to their group. "What's up?"  
"We're waiting for Janelle," Ashley said with a smile.  
"Oh yeah…today's the day, huh?" Lucas said, hitting Zac on the shoulder and laughing.  
"Today's what day?" Monique said walking up from behind.  
"God!" Zac exclaimed. He shot up from his chair and faced them all. "Yes, today is the day I'm spending the entire day with the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. Yes, I'm nervous. No, I don't know where we're going. And yes, I know that I'm freaking out right now, and none of you are helping matters much." Corbin opened his mouth to speak, but Zac put up a hand to stop him. "And no Corbin, I will not ask her for any of her friends' phone numbers!"   
As Corbin slumped back into his chair with a frown, Monique raised an eyebrow. "Okay…well, if that's the case, then you should probably know that there was a really nice car out front a couple of minutes ago," she said, then leaned over to see around him, and then leaned back, "and the girl who was inside that nice car is standing behind you."  
Zac blinked, and then turned around. _Whoa_.  
"Whoa," Corbin said. Lucas didn't say anything, but they both slowly stood up as they saw Janelle at the entrance to the HSM 2 set. She was talking to Carol, and Carol pointed over to their group. Janelle nodded and started walking toward them.  
Zac swallowed audibly, his hands sweaty all over again. _Oh my God._  
Her long, dark, wavy hair swung loose around her shoulders in time with her steps. There was excitement and a hint of nerves glimmering in her big green eyes. His eyes traveled down her pink t-shirt with the words 'Pretty in Pink' in white script, and further down to watch the way her hips swayed in a white jeanskirt. Zac blinked, and kicked himself mentally. _Dude, don't be a perv._ He glanced quickly at her painted pink toes in white flipflops and looked back at her face as she stopped in front of him.  
She smiled. "Hi."  
He let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "Hi," he replied. He turned and heard himself introducing Janelle to his castmates, and then engaging in unimportant small talk. He then turned to her and smiled. "Ready to go?"  
She smiled up at him. "Yeah, let's go." They both said their goodbyes to the group and walked away. "So, where are we going?" Janelle asked.  
"I don't know…I think Carol has some spots planned. Ever been to Utah?"  
"No. You must be an expert on it by now," she said with a smile.  
"Hey you two, let's get moving!"  
By now they had exited the set, and Carol had called to them from in front of a black van. Janelle raised an eyebrow. "What's all this?" she asked.  
Carol smiled as they walked over to her. "It's for the camera crew."  
Janelle turned to Zac with a confused look on her face, and he shoved his hands in his pockets with a sheepish smile. "Popstar wants some shots of our day together…you know, to put in the magazine."  
Janelle rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah…duh. I knew that." Carol opened the door to the van and motioned for them to get inside. "This should be an interesting day," Janelle said as she climbed in.  
Zac had to close his eyes for a second to resist looking at her behind before following her in. _You're telling me._ Zac smiled as Janelle threw another piece of her hot dog bun to the group of noisy white ducks that had gathered around her from the moment she had dropped her first hotdog. Her embarrassment had turned to laughter as she picked it up and began feeding it to the ducks. Zac was leaning against a park bench a few feet away, just watching her. Suddenly, as Janelle was crouched down petting a few of the ducks, one of them jumped up, almost as if to settle in her lap. Janelle gasped and jumped up, startled.  
"Hey!" she protested with a shriek. Janelle turned to see Zac almost doubled over with laughter. "What's so funny?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.  
Zac shrugged. "Hey, you can't blame him for trying."  
Janelle straightened her clothing and walked over to take her replacement hot dog from him. "I'm just not that type of girl," she said in an offended voice, but the twinkle in her eyes said otherwise.  
Carol came over, still chuckling. "Janelle, that was great!"  
Janelle stopped with the new hot dog halfway to her mouth, and turned to Carol with a stricken expression. "O-m-g, you didn't get a picture of that, did you? If you put that in the magazine, I'll die!"  
"Relax honey, we won't put it in," Carol said. "Where to next?"  
"I want some ice cream," Janelle said. Her cheeks got a little pink as she acknowledged the hot dog still in her hand. "Hey, a girl's gotta have some sugar."  
Zac smiled. "I agree. I think I saw a Maggie Moo's a little while ago."  
Later on as the two of them were eating their ice cream, Janelle fixed Zac with an assessing stare.  
"What?" he asked.  
She shrugged. "I'm jus wondering what you're thinking."  
Zac shook his head. "You don't want to know."  
"Yes I do," Janelle insisted, leaning closer to him. "Hit me."  
Zac swirled his spoon around in his ice cream dish while trying to get up the courage to actually ask the question that had been bugging him all day. "Okay…I've been wondering how a girl like you could possibly be single."  
Janelle blushed. "Well…it's complicated."  
"What is?" _Crap, she has a boyfriend._  
"Dating." Janelle scooped up a spoonful of ice cream. "I find it all a bit too stressful."  
"Really?" Zac said, cocking an eyebrow.  
"Well, I'm sure you remember what it's like in high school," Janelle said after swallowing. "Everyone's always in everyone else's business, especially in girl world."  
"Girl world?"  
"Yeah. You'd be surprised how true 'Mean Girls' really is in real life…you know, the movie? Plus, it's tough sometimes to distinguish between the guys who really want to get to know you and the ones who just wanna score." She slapped her hand over her mouth and winced. "Omg, that was kinda rude, wasn't it?"  
Zac shook his head. "Nah, not really."  
Janelle bit her lip, and then looked around. "Hey, where's Carol?"  
Zac looked around and shrugged. "I dunno. Why?"  
Janelle smiled and grabbed her purse. "Let's go."  
"Go where?" Zac said, standing as she did. "We have to wait for—"  
"Do you really wanna hang out with adults all day? Come on, where's your sense of adventure?" Janelle teased, smiling at him over her shoulder as she walked towards the door.  
"Well, when you put it that way…" Zac said to himself, and hurried to catch up with her. They both cautiously stuck their heads out of the door and looked in both directions. The vans were sitting at the curb, and most of the cameramen were standing around it.  
"We need a diversion," Janelle whispered.  
Almost immediately after she had spoken, one camera man shouted and pointed across the street. A short blonde woman, dressed all in black, was coming out of a store, and was immediately surrounded with press, including the Popstar cameramen who rushed over to try to get a picture of her.  
"Who's that?" Janelle asked.  
"Who cares? Now's our chance!" Zac grabbed her hand and pulled her down the sidewalk in the other direction.  
"That was sneaky!" Janelle exclaimed. "You're a bad influence."  
"Me? This was your idea!" Zac exclaimed, and squeezed her hand as she laughed. "Come on, let's get a taxi."

"Let's take five, people."  
Vanessa got up and walked over to the refreshment table. As she opened a bottle of water, she motioned Ashley over. "Ash, what time is it?"  
Ashley dug her phone out of her back pocket and checked the screen. "It's 4:22. It was 4:15 the last time you asked...after a very painful poke in the ribs, I'll have you know."  
"Oh...okay."  
Ashley raised an eyebrow. "What's with you? You seem kinda antsy."  
Vanessa shrugged with one shoulder. "Nothing...how do you think Zac's sight-seeing thing is going?"  
Ashley took a bite out of a chocolate chip cookie. "I dunno," she answered.  
"Shouldn't they be back by now/ I mean...is there that much to see in Utah?"  
Ashley swallowed. "Not really, but-" She stopped suddenly, put the cookie down and crossed her arms, giving Vanessa a wary look. "Why?"  
Vanessa took another swig from her water bottle. "No reason, I'm just saying..."  
"Okay people, let's finish up!"  
Vanessa walked hurriedly back to her seat, but Ashley stood looking after her. "Hmm."

"I am really, really sorry," Janelle said. "I didn't know it would be that bad."  
Zac shook his head. "How could you have known? How could anyone have known?"  
Janelle tossed her empty soda cup into a nearby trashcan as they walked away from the movie theater. "I knew it wouldn't be the greatest movie in the world...most epic movies aren't really that good but...there was no real plot."  
"Blood everywhere, but no real plot," Zac agreed, putting his hands deep into his pockets. "I hate when that happens."  
"Wow, that was disappointing," Janelle said. "Oh well...where to now?" As the pair prepared to cross a busy intersection, Janelle put her right hand in the crook of Zac's elbow, and a really intense tingle ran up and down Zac's spine and rattled around in his brain.  
Zac opened his mouth to answer, but his cell phone vibrated. He took it out of his pocket and winced. "It's Carol."  
Janelle bit her lip. "Are you gonna answer it?"  
Zac stared at the blinking screen for a moment, then put it back in his pocket. "I'd rather not."  
"Good choice." Janelle moved closer to him as they walked down the crowded street in downtown Salt Lake City. Apparently, it was the part of town dedicated to shopping. "Ooh, I need a new pair of sunglasses!" Janelle pulled Zac into a store. For the next hour and a half, they both wandered from store to store, mostly window-shopping, but Janelle bought a few things for herself and her friends. In one clothing boutique, Janelle held up a pink, orange and white striped shirt up to Zac's body, then stepped back to give it an accessing look. "I like it."  
Zac raised an eyebrow. "I hate it."  
"Oh come on! It takes a real man to wear pink."  
"Oh yeah? What do fake men wear?"  
"Uh...I don't know...every color you're wearing right now?"  
"Ha ha, very funny," Zac said, poking her in the ribs. She giggled and put the shirt back. "Come on, I have an idea," Zac said. He lead Janelle out of the store and raised his hand to hail a taxi. "Where are we going?" she asked.  
Zac grinned at her as a taxi came to a stop in front of them. "You'll see."  
Minutes later, the taxi stopped. Janelle jumped out and gasped. "Oh my god!"  
Zac paid the driver and stood beside her. "I dunno...I had a hunch that since you live in Texas, this may be a good place to bring you, even if it's only a lake."  
"It's beautiful," Janelle said, then took his arm and dragged him down to the sand. "Come on!"  
The two of them went down to the sand and stood for a while, gazing out onto the Great Salt Lake as the water shone in the evening sunlight. After a while, Janelle turned to Zac. "Thank you...for everything. This whole day has been...amazing."  
Zac smiled. "Yeah...it has. And I want you to know that even though this may be the last day I ever spend without the company of two very big bodyguards as a direct result of how pissed Carol is gonna be about our disappearance, I'm glad I'm spending my last day of freedom with you." He saw a faint blush tint her cheeks and the tingle ran up and down his spine once more. He took a deep breath and reached for her hand. "Come on."  
The two of them began to walk down the beach, their hands swinging between them. "So, can I ask you a question without it being weird?"  
Janelle shrugged. "Sure, I guess."  
"Is there any chance your friend Tori likes younger guys?"  
Janelle grinned. "Oh, there's a very good chance."


End file.
